Fritz Haber and Ammonia

Fritz Haber is a chemist that won a nobel prize in 1918 for his invention to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen gas. His wife, Clara Immerwahr, is a first PhD chemist graduate.

Ammonia is like a knife, it can be good or bad depends on the user. We can make explosives and gunpowders with ammonium nitrate like TNTs. It caused many accidents, like the factory where the ammonia was used exploded due to ammonia. Building collapsed and exploded due to ammonia, even created an artificial earthquake (3.3 richter). Haber process has killed millions of people and helped billions of people.

On the other hand, Ammonia feeds billions of people until now. Ammonia is a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen. Nitrogen is one of the most essential chemical in the world. We consume nitrogen from plants, or animals that eat plants. Plants get the nitrogen from soil.

There is a problem. When we harvesting plants from the same soil year after year, we suck out the nitrogen out of it. The plants can’t be healthy, can’t photosynthesize, susceptible to disease. This is how ammonia is really useful. Ammonia can be a nitrogen-baesd fertilizer, boosting crop and global food production. In the diluted form, it can be disinfectant, stain remover, and many other forms of useful liquid.